Counterattack

A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games".[1] The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek to regain lost ground or destroy the attacking enemy (this may take the form of an opposing sports team or military units).[1][2][3]

A saying, attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte illustrate the tactical importance of the counterattack : "the greatest danger occurs at the moment of victory". In the same spirit, in his Battle Studies, Ardant du Pic noticed that "he, general or mere captain, who employs every one in the storming of a position can be sure of seeing it retaken by an organised counter-attack of four men and a corporal".[4]

A counterattack is a military tactic that occurs when one side successfully defends off the enemy’s attack and begins to push the enemy back with an attack of its own. In order to perform a successful counterattack, the defending side must quickly and decisively strike the enemy after defending, with the objective of shocking and overwhelming the enemy.[5] The main concept of the counterattack is to catch the enemy by surprise.[5] Many historical counterattacks were successful because the enemy was off guard and not expecting the counterattack.[5]

Ancient roots of the counterattack

This is the original text of The Art of War. The text was painted onto bamboo sticks and bound together in the form of a book.

The counterattack tactic was highlighted in Sun Tzu’s, TheArt of War.[6] Written in 5 B.C, The Art of War serves as a guide on warfare and has been influential to the tactics used during war even to this day. In chapter 3, the book focuses on “stratagem” and goes over how to properly conduct a counterattack.[6] Sun Tzu states, “Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces”.[6] This quote advises one to wait out the enemy and conduct a counterattack when the time is right. It states that the best strategy is to stay one step ahead of the enemy, and know the enemy’s next move. Thus keeping a general always prepared for the enemy’s move, leaving opportunity for a counterattack.[6]

Analyzing historical counterattacks

In the past, there have been many notable counterattacks which have changed the course of a war. To be specific, Operation Bagration and the Battle of Austerlitz are good examples of the proper execution of a counterattack.

Operation Bagration

This map shows the point of attack during Operation Bagration and how the counterattack was executed.

Operation Bagration during World War II was one of the largest counterattacks in military history. The assault by around 1.7 million Red Army soldiers successfully put the Red Army on the offensive in the Eastern Front after Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941.

The Soviet counterattack focused on Belorussia, but prior to the counterattack starting, the Soviet Union fooled Nazi military leaders into believing that the attack take place further south, near the Ukraine.[7]

To aid the deception, the Red Army established fake army camps in the Ukraine and after German reconnaissance planes reported Soviet troop concentration in the area, panzer and infantry divisions were rushed south from Belorussia, leaving it vulnerable to a major assault.

To support the attack, partisan groups in German controlled territory were instructed to destroy German railroads to hamper German efforts to transport supplies and troops throughout the occupied territories and further weakening German Army Group Centre in the Ukraine.[7]

On June 22, 1944, the attack on Belarus by 1.7 million Soviet troops began and overwhelmed the depleted Germans defenders.

On July 3, The Red Army captured Minsk and later liberated the rest of Belorussia.

Operation Bagration was a huge Soviet success and opened a direct route to Berlin after the fall of Belorussia leading to the Red Army beginning to liberate territory that was taken by the Wehrmacht three years before.[7]

Battle of Austerlitz

Map depicting the famous counterattack that took place at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805.

Another military battle that utilized the counterattack tactic was the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805. While fighting the Austrian and Russian armies, Napoleon purposely made it seem as if his men were weak from the fighting in several cases.[8] Napoleon had his men retreat in an attempt to lure the Allies to battle.[8] He purposely left his right flank open and vulnerable.[8] This deceived the Allies into attacking and the Allies fell into Napoleon's trap.[8] When the Allied troops went to attack Napoleon’s right flank, Napoleon quickly filled up the right flank so the attack was not effective.[8] However, on the Allied side, a large gap was left open in the middle of the Allied front line due to troops leaving to attack the French right flank.[8] Noticing the large hole in the middle of the Allied lines, Napoleon attacked the middle and had his forces also flank around both sides, eventually surrounding the Allies.[8] With the Allies completely surrounded, the battle was over.[8] The Battle of Austerlitz was a successful counterattack because the French army defended off the Allied attack and quickly defeated the Allies.[8] Napoleon deceived the Allies.[8] He made his men seem weak and near defeat.[8]

Battle of St. Vith

The Battle of St. Vith was part of the Battle of the Bulge, which began on 16 December 1944, and represented the right flank in the advance of the German center, 5th Panzer-Armee (Armored Army), toward the ultimate objective of Antwerp. Given the task of countering the German advance, US General Bruce C. Clarke decided that a mobile defense was the best solution. Knowing that the German army was aiming for an objective far behind the battle line, he decided that they could afford to lose a few kilometers a day - the idea being that a slowing down of the advance was as good as stopping them outright, since the Germans were limited by time.

The mobile defense he used at St. Vith involved the use of M36 tank destroyers acting as a base of fire to resist the oncoming German armored thrust, slowing them down enough to then counter-attack them with a force of M4 Sherman tanks. Artillery and Infantry were involved in this process as a combined arms force. They key was not to engage the Germans in a pitched battle, but to slow their advance enough to ruin their offensive timetable. The counter-attacks ensured that the German forces could not break through the slowly retreating forces. Clarke's success was one of the first times armor had been used in a mobile defense, and was one of the turning points of the war.

Further reading

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